Unpopular Opinions about LEGO

[Yperio_Bricks]

4 minutes ago, MAB said:

Boycott of using LEGO or boycott of buying LEGO? Two very different things, even though each feeds the other. 

Boycott of buying Lego.

[Mikdun]

7 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

Boycott of buying Lego.

If I'm buying second hand (mostly, but last new set was 2021) am I actually doing it?

[Yperio_Bricks]

2 hours ago, Mikdun said:

If I'm buying second hand (mostly, but last new set was 2021) am I actually doing it?

I am not calling for an actual boycott. I just expressed an unpopular opinion of mine. It is not possible anyway. It is not possible in this day and age for humans to act as one and show them companies who is the boss

 

[JesseNight]

6 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

I am not calling for an actual boycott. I just expressed an unpopular opinion of mine. It is not possible anyway. It is not possible in this day and age for humans to act as one and show them companies who is the boss

 

Sad truth. Businesses rule the world nowadays...
At the same time they're not the only ones to blame though. There's so many rules and regulations and costs they're dealing with when running a manufacturing process in the west (compared to certain cheaper production lands in Asia), it's honestly no wonder so many move it to different places.

[DonQuixote]

On 8/9/2024 at 5:01 PM, JesseNight said:

Sad truth. Businesses rule the world nowadays...
At the same time they're not the only ones to blame though. There's so many rules and regulations and costs they're dealing with when running a manufacturing process in the west (compared to certain cheaper production lands in Asia), it's honestly no wonder so many move it to different places.

Capitalists want a maximal profit as fast as possible with minimal costs and cheap labour. And guess what? The Chinese communist party provides cheap and obedient workers. So in the end, capitalists and the Chinese communist party actually go hand in hand and like each other. And the working class is screwed . 

Do you really think capitalists and communists care about the working class? Hell no! 

Maybe it's time for some anarchism! 

[LegendaryArticuno]

On 8/12/2024 at 11:58 AM, DonQuixote said:

Maybe it's time for some anarchism! 

We're already getting a taste due to mass immigration to limit the working class and to feed infinite growth expectations. We'll get what you ask for when climate change makes parts of the world near uninhabitable and fresh water turns into of the most valuable resource.

On a more light hearted unpopular opinion... I'm willing to be price-gouged and pay X-Jet/Hoopty prices for Deadpool and Wolverine sets. That movie was so good and inspirational 

[Toastie]

21 hours ago, LegendaryArticuno said:

makes parts of the world near uninhabitable and fresh water turns into of the most valuable resource

I agree - and like to add: The most densely populated parts of the world will have to migrate ... after all, humans like the shores

What a coincidence: Water will push humans (and all other non-fishy inhabitants of this world) to migrate because they'll need water.

More importantly: What is an "X-Jet/Hoopty" type price? (Bloody German here ...) - sounds too good to me to not using it in conversations

Best,
Thorsten

[LegendaryArticuno]

2 hours ago, Toastie said:

More importantly: What is an "X-Jet/Hoopty" type price? (Bloody German here ...) - sounds too good to me to not using it in conversations

A set where you pay more than double the cost, get no printed pieces, and cut costs on minifigs 

X-Jet is a 10/10 on design, but a 1/10 on cost.

[Toastie]

8 hours ago, LegendaryArticuno said:

X-Jet is a 10/10 on design, but a 1/10 on cost

Got it - I am a bit underexposed when it comes to Marvel world.

Thank you + all the best
Thorsten

[Johnny1360]

On 8/19/2024 at 6:31 PM, LegendaryArticuno said:

A set where you pay more than double the cost, get no printed pieces, and cut costs on minifigs 

X-Jet is a 10/10 on design, but a 1/10 on cost.

Indeed, I myself was really looking forward to buying this set, unfortunately when I looked at the price, I was sure Target had mispriced the set as they do on occasion. After realizing that was the RRP I right then and there vowed never again buy LEGO Marvel sets and so far I have stuck to my guns. May be unpopular but I have reached the limit of what I am willing to pay for Marvel. It wouldn't bother me a lick, if Marvel went down the tubes, those greedy bastards will never get a dime from me again.

[LegendaryArticuno]

Lego x Addidas was/is a stupid partnership, and so is Lego x Nike.

[Toastie]

On 8/22/2024 at 4:45 PM, Johnny1360 said:

if Marvel went down the tubes, those greedy bastards will never get a dime from me again

Wait: You mean the LEGO Marvel "program" and the greedy bastards from LEGO control, right?

Or do you mean the Mickey Mouse folks? Well, if these were greedy, the family owned company located in backside Denmark, only thinking about of how to make this world a better place, could have said: "No: Too greedy". But they haven't ...

Best,
Thorsten       

[YellowFrog]

Lego should stop making GWPs, and instead release them as cheap sets. The bargains can be replaced with actual sales.

[MAB]

5 hours ago, YellowFrog said:

Lego should stop making GWPs, and instead release them as cheap sets. The bargains can be replaced with actual sales.

That would likely lead to lower revenues though. The idea of the GWP is that customers order just that little but more to hit the threshold. If you want to purchase the GWP, there are plenty of options such as eBay and bricklink.

[Black Falcon]

5 hours ago, YellowFrog said:

Lego should stop making GWPs, and instead release them as cheap sets. The bargains can be replaced with actual sales.

Well sure it would be good for us who only want to have the GWP - but it certainly wouldn´t be good for Lego. People buying for RRP is making them good money per Set sold and if they would lower the cost of the set with sales by 20% for instance they would lower their profit by a way higher amount as costs for production, logistics and shipping would stay the same still. And on the other side you usually still get better discounts elsewhere so there wouldn´t be any point really to oder from Lego themselves.

Now on the same time those GWPs sold won´t bring them enough money to compensate that. Especially not when they also would have to be discounted in their shop - or would be bought elsewhere with higher discounts - and eitherway Lego makes way less money when someone else sells their products, than when they sell them.

[Lion King]

18 hours ago, YellowFrog said:

Lego should stop making GWPs, and instead release them as cheap sets. The bargains can be replaced with actual sales.

Agreed. I don’t like the idea of being “forced’ to buy GWP by spending too much money on one or more sets (unless I buy Modular Building set to get a modular vechile, such as Moving Truk, Retro Hot Dog Truk, Vinetage Taxi). 

But…. There are no new things in GWPs - they just reuse some existing elements and minifigure parts. For example, they had reused minifigures part for Eiffel’s Apartment. Nothing new and exclusive. 

[YellowFrog]

On 8/26/2024 at 4:56 AM, Lion King said:

There are no new things in GWPs - they just reuse some existing elements and minifigure parts. For example, they had reused minifigures part for Eiffel’s Apartment. Nothing new and exclusive. 

While I agree on the whole, certain ones such as Majisto's magical workshop, the Forestmen's Hideout, and more have exclusive minifigures, shields, printed parts...

[Lion King]

13 minutes ago, YellowFrog said:

While I agree on the whole, certain ones such as Majisto's magical workshop, the Forestmen's Hideout, and more have exclusive minifigures, shields, printed parts...

The printed shields from Forestmen’s Hideout only showed up in Lion Knights’ Castlee set - it’s why the shields were printed.  I cold not rmemeber about printed shiled in the workshop set. 

But you are right about minifigures. 

[Ropefish]

I feel like more so, the bigger more 'set' feeling GWP's should be sold as regular sets after a period of time.... some of them are just, unreachable with needing to purchase 150-200USD in lego. The price alone is a bit silly at times and ontop of that i just don't want to have to buy more then i need or want, wich is often very little. I suppose there is always the aftermarket of these GWP but sometimes then can be scalped to almost the same price the GWP price threshold was :/

[JesseNight]

What you say is exactly why I have issues with GWP (which often aren't even "gifts" because we still need to purchase them).
Rarity creates lots of opening for scalping. And often only the rarity gives them value, because nobody would normally pay a lot for a sticker heavy model without any unique parts or features.
It's a business model that works for Lego to make us buy to unlock them, so they have absolutely no reason to get rid of it.

[Yperio_Bricks]

Just now, JesseNight said:

 (which often aren't even "gifts" because we still need to purchase them).

GWPs are never gifts. If it would be a gift, you would get them without having to buy anything in return. Actually, all customers pay for these "gifts", even if only few people get them.

That's why i hate GWPs. It's just marketing. Creating FOMO or addressing people's nostalgia and psychological tricks like that.

And some people really think they get something for free. From a big company...

[Lyichir]

1 hour ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

GWPs are never gifts. If it would be a gift, you would get them without having to buy anything in return. Actually, all customers pay for these "gifts", even if only few people get them.

That's why i hate GWPs. It's just marketing. Creating FOMO or addressing people's nostalgia and psychological tricks like that.

And some people really think they get something for free. From a big company...

I mean, you say this like GWPs not existing would benefit everyone. But getting rid of GWPs wouldn't really benefit anyone—it's not like they're taking the place of other retail sets. All they do is create a little bit of benefit from buying from Lego directly (since otherwise they'd be undercut completely by other retailers), and allow more niche sets that are targeted more squarely at the kinds of people who buy direct from Lego to exist.

My only complaint about GWPs is that the way they cycle in and out means that occasionally you get periods like the one at the start of next month, when the only ones available are Harry Potter crap that I don't want.

Maybe the solution to both our issues would be to make GWP availability on a longer timetable, so that people would have less to worry about "FOMO" and it'd be easier for people to get the sets they want year-round instead of having to go through dry spells where they have things on their wishlist but no real incentive to get them right away.

[Yperio_Bricks]

19 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

I mean, you say this like GWPs not existing would benefit everyone.

Yes, that is my opinion.

[BrickBob Studpants]

GWP sets technically aren't gifts since they're conditional, but they're still for free in a sense. If GWP sets didn't exist, I'd just receive The Burrow and the TNBC set with the order I'll make in two hours. Since they do exist, I'll get the B&B promo set plus the Weasley Clock (and maybe a 5th flowerpot), without additional charge. In that particular scenario, the promos are for free since I would've ordered the two sets on s@h in either case, with or without the promos.

The argument that everybody pays for these sets by generally increased prices for all other products doesn't make much sense to me. That implies that sets would be cheaper now if they never started to do GWP sets, and that sounds pretty silly. Of course GWP sets weren't born from the goodness of their hearts, but the way they make up for the cost of producing GWP sets is not through price hiking, but through something way sneakier, namely customer retention.

Ethically sound? Likely not, but personally I don't mind GWP sets since I easily pass the thresholds for the ones I want. I can't speak for others though

[Yperio_Bricks]

3 minutes ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

 In that particular scenario, the promos are for free

That is exactly what Lego wants you to think! Of course not only Lego is using these marketing methods. Think of "cashback" or the 11th bread is for "free" at the bakery